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beejai's review against another edition
4.0
This was a pretty good blend of historical fiction and mystery. The protagonist is a guy named Gordianus who is a "finder" hired by some obscure Roman lawyer named Cicero. You might have heard of the guy but those in Rome at the time of this story, for the most part, have not. This mystery is the actual first real-life case by Cicero which put him on the map of who is who in the Roman political world.
We do get to meet some other major figures like Crassus (buying a burning house), Sulla (the dictator nearing his retirement), and Chrysogonus (who... OK, no spoilers). Just browsing through the titles, it is obvious that we will be meeting many other major players as they enter the scene as well. I definitely do plan on continuing on in the series.
While I think on a whole, Saylor did a good job of introducing a world and culture I would guess many of his readers are not incredibly familiar with, I do feel at times that some of the opinions and sensibilities of his characters were a bit anachronistic, especially with regard to the issue of slavery. This might have been intentional on his part so as to not alienate a wider audience, but for me it did detract slightly from the overall quality of his work.
We do get to meet some other major figures like Crassus (buying a burning house), Sulla (the dictator nearing his retirement), and Chrysogonus (who... OK, no spoilers). Just browsing through the titles, it is obvious that we will be meeting many other major players as they enter the scene as well. I definitely do plan on continuing on in the series.
While I think on a whole, Saylor did a good job of introducing a world and culture I would guess many of his readers are not incredibly familiar with, I do feel at times that some of the opinions and sensibilities of his characters were a bit anachronistic, especially with regard to the issue of slavery. This might have been intentional on his part so as to not alienate a wider audience, but for me it did detract slightly from the overall quality of his work.
djrmelvin's review against another edition
3.0
This series of mysteries was recommended to me when I was lamenting the end of the HBO series Rome. I owe the recommender a fruit basket or something, because these books seem to be everything that show was, and more. The books follow the cases of fictional character Giordiannus The Finder (1st Century BC for Private Detective), with many real historic figures included to provide the plots. In this book, it's just-starting-out orator Cicero (yes, that Cicero) and his loyal, smart, and thinking-with-the-wrong-head slave Tiro that join Giordiannus to exonerate a wealthy farmer accused of one the worst things a person could do in ancient Rome - patricide. It looks like I'm hooked on another series.
writerlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This is Saylor's first novel and it shows in the way he digresses sometimes on and on about small details. But overall the pictures he paints of Rome during the Civil Wars and how the city is almost an entity all by herself is very well done.
Walking the line between the historical figures and the fictional figures can be difficult but Saylor manages to draw a compelling pictures of Cicero, his entourage, Sulla, of the whole political web of intrigues.
A little on the gory side and it's not a cozy type of mystery. Still well written and you learn a few things along the way.
Walking the line between the historical figures and the fictional figures can be difficult but Saylor manages to draw a compelling pictures of Cicero, his entourage, Sulla, of the whole political web of intrigues.
A little on the gory side and it's not a cozy type of mystery. Still well written and you learn a few things along the way.
frater's review against another edition
4.0
Not since McCullough's First Man in Rome have I read a story based completely on real events and enjoyed it so much. Like McCullough, Saylor focuses on the Late Republican phase of Roman History, which is probably the best documented periods; or at least the best document pre-empire period. There are pitfalls involved in setting a novel in this period however - the more well known the time, the less room you have to "fudge" it. Even more so when you are covering a documented event (Cicero's first murder trial).
If there is one thing that Saylor excels at in this book though, it is weaving historical fact into fiction. Some of the greatest colour stories of the time sneak in to the background of this novel, from Sulla and Metrobius' long-lasting and affectionate friendship, to Crassus seen in the act of bullying a cheap price out of a tenement owner whose building looked about to catch fire.
This is a complex, well written and wholly satisfying book and I greatly look forward to the others in the series.
If there is one thing that Saylor excels at in this book though, it is weaving historical fact into fiction. Some of the greatest colour stories of the time sneak in to the background of this novel, from Sulla and Metrobius' long-lasting and affectionate friendship, to Crassus seen in the act of bullying a cheap price out of a tenement owner whose building looked about to catch fire.
This is a complex, well written and wholly satisfying book and I greatly look forward to the others in the series.
lostinthelibrary's review against another edition
4.0
A historical mystery? Yes please! Saylor clearly knows his stuff and I feel like I learnt a lot without it feeling a history lesson (apart from one part but that part is relatively short). The mystery was also very good and I was not expecting a lot of the twists. I will definitely read more in this series.
oliwija's review against another edition
4.0
Den var välskriven och väldigt bra översatt. Jag gillade svägningarna i historien och också hur mycket den lyckades överraska mig. En bra historisk deckare och intressant att se hur rättvisa, lag och ordning "fungerade" i Romarriket. '
flik's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings for: paedophilia, graphic sex, murder, rape, controlling relationships.
lsneal's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't get into it. I found the amount of exposition tiresome.